2023年3月4日已讀 4 分鐘

SEBASTIAN Interview

已更新：2023年3月10日

Started off with a garage sale drum kit .

Autobiography

My name is Sebastian, I’m currently in Sydney Australia but originally from South Africa. Started playing drums in high school when I was 17. Started off with a garage sale drum kit which I had to learn how to fix up before I could play it. I’m self taught and now it’s almost 11 years since that day. Currently I’m playing for a Deathcore project called Complexant.

How did you practice with your epic technique?

Sebastian:

Well my practice is actually really simple, I normally narrow it down to the basic single and double strokes (hands) and run through bars of 4th into 8th then 8th into 8th triplet and 8th into 16 notes. Since that’s pretty much the bread and butter for most of my playing requirements which is what I practice on the most. I rarely do sit down to just do rudiments and other exercises these days as finding time to practice is harder than before so I try to keep it simple and essential. Feet wise I do exactly the same, predominantly a double stroke heel toe player so I focus a lot on working back and forth between notations. Lastly would be endurance runs just to condition my body enough to perform when I’m tired. As mentioned before, I don’t always have the luxury of lengthy practice time so I try best to keep it focused. Even if it’s 10 minutes on the pad or an hour on the kit it’s better than spending 2 hours with only 20 minutes of effective practice.

Why did you step into the metal?

Sebastian:

Well before metal I was into rock, then teenage years came along with some rage and angst I seeked out something more rebellious and contrary to the rather conservative environment I was growing up in. It started more on the generic bands before I got curious enough to actually jump back in time to learn about old school death metal and black metal. Fast forward a bit, I’m still in it. The reason’s are different compared to the initial intent which was to rebel. Now I look back and think “none of the other styles would fit me in the long term, be it in regards to self discovery or self expression” so in hindsight I’m glad I made that blind choice with some blind intuition hahaha.

Did anything interesting happen during the show with Complexant band?

Sebastian:

Well I don’t know if it can be considered interesting but my beater came off my pedal mid song, by reflexive reaction I just yelled “FUCK”

In such a densely populated city in Asia/where you live, how do you plan the logistics to practice?

Sebastian:

Well, where I live in Sydney Australia people do live quite close together which makes practicing with an acoustic setup at home practically impossible unless you hate your neighbours hahaha. I have an electronic kit which I use at home, it allows me to play whenever I feel like without really disturbing next door even at 3am in the morning. The only time I ever touch an acoustic kit these days is when I go rehearse with my band which we book a room at rehearsal studio.

What's the hardest song you've ever practiced? Which part is the most difficult?

Sebastian:

That’s actually quite a hard question because I normally like to challenge myself learning some hard material mostly doing it like a sport to assess my ability to replicate and regurgitate what I remember and test myself a little. One of the harder songs in mind is Cuntcrusher – Infant Annihilator it’s the section just before the gravity where the kick goes switches notation value and the hardest part about it is the muscle control to get the switch clean. Still a challenge to this day, another hard one is The Crowned Apocalypse- Carnal Abhorrence. The song is programmed yes I know but trying to remain consistent in a 290bpm song is extremely difficult. I think the whole song is a challenge because of stamina requirement for to rather long blast sections at such a high speed. The Violation – Fleshgod apocalypse, when I first learnt that my stamina was not good so keeping up for that long was very tough. Radiatus Generis -Cytotoxin, this song is wild. Not the speed that’s challenging but Stocki’s parts are very very difficult and pulling them off clean and consistently takes a tremendous amount of practice.

Can you introduce your drum set?

Sebastian:

I have two different setups:

For my electronic I’m running a Roland TD50

Acoustic set started off being a Pearl Vision birch set. 10x7, 12x8, 16x14 and 22x18 but over the years I’ve grown to really like small sizes which I’ve gotten orphan drums second hand to build a “Frankenstein” kit. OCD people will hate it hahahaha but now I’ve turned it into a 8x7, 10x7, 13x12 and 16x14 kick with a 12x7 snare. It’s a child’s drum set hahahaha but I love how compact it feels. Very similar to my electronic set. Cymbals I used a brand from Australia called RECH for some years only recently trying out some Meinl Classics Custom dark which I’m growing to like. I also run ACD Darwin double pedals, my favourite piece of gear!!

ACD Darwin double pedals

Can you give one piece of advice to younger drummers?

Sebastian:

"Don’t stop, never stop". Hard days make practice even more difficult and there will be times where you feel like you’re not reaching your goal. Don’t set an unreachable standard at the start, instead give yourself something reachable but challenging. It’s the culmination of small victories that will gradually transform you which patience is needed too. Most importantly, have fun. The more fun you have, the more you will be doing it. It’s not talent that makes the player, it’s the hard work. Keep on buddy!! We all in the same boat!